1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to an adjustable rotary lift assembly which is mounted to a work table. More particularly, the invention relates to an assembly for raising and lowering a router bit with both a coarse adjustment mechanism and a fine adjustment mechanism. Specifically, the invention relates to an assembly with a handle for rapidly raising and lowering the router for a course adjustment and an easily accessible fine adjustment mechanism built into the rotary lift assembly.
2. Background Information
Routers can be mounted on a table so that the rotating bit for material removal is held stationary and the work piece is moved into the bit. Since the work piece moves into the bit, the router and bit must be securely held in both the vertical and horizontal orientations. A router is generally only moved in the vertical direction because, once again, the work piece can be moved horizontally about the bit.
Movement in the vertical direction is generally accomplished with either coarse adjustment or fine adjustment. Since coarse adjustment is not as accurate, coarse adjustment is used to roughly locate the bit at the desired height. Fine adjustment is then used to precisely locate the bit at the desired height. Traditionally, fine adjustment has been accomplished by locating a tool within a fine adjustment mechanism to rotate a fine adjustment screw. A tool is necessary because the adjustment mechanism needs to be below the table surface so that the work piece can be moved about the router bit without interference. Thus, the traditional router lift assembly is plagued with needing additional tools to operate the fine adjustment mechanism which could ultimately be lost or damaged.